High speed mill



June 29, 1943,

W. A. M LEAN HIGH SPEED MILL Original Filed March 31, 1936 2Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG.

W/LL/AMA. McLEAN June 29, 1943. w. A. M LEAN HIGH SPEED MILL OriginalFiled March 31, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 g wuwrvkw WILL/AM A McL EANPatented June 29, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT 2,323,149 M -HIGH SPEED MILLf 7 William A. :McLe an, Geneva, 'assignor to Geneva Processes, Ina,Geneva, N. Y., a-cr-. poration of New York t (lriginalrapplicationJanuary 5,1938, Serial Not.

' I I 183,549, which isa division of application Serial No. 71,932,March 31, 1936. Divided and this application June 2, 1941, Serial No.396,336

4 Claims. (Gl; 259-8) This invention relates to mixing devices, and moreparticularly to devices for mixing emulsions such as mayonnaise, saladdressings and insecticides. 7

The present application is a divisionof my If desired,interlacingdisturbing elements, such as interrupting circular vanes orpinssuch as disclosed in my co-pending application,;- Serial No.396,337, filed June 2, 1941, may .be usedrin connection with the millsdisclosed in this apcopending application, Serial No. 183,549, filedplicatillm-v ,v 1 a January 5, 1938, now Patent 2,248,886, dated July Inthe drawings:. 1941, Which S a division of Serial Figure 1 is a view inlongitudinal section ,of filed March 31, 1936, now Patent 2,125,455,dated one form of the invention, Aug st 1 i Figure 2 is a view takenalong line 2,-2' of P ObJect of thls mventlon 1 to .P a Figure 1,looking in the direction of the arrows. mixmg device capable of rProducing a Figure. 3 is a sectionalview showing the. rotor colloidmixture of the desiredvhomogeneityconstruction of another form of theinvention.

Another Object of this invention is to provide Figure 4 is a sectionalview showing the rotor a high Speed mill which is Simple in constructionconstruction of a third form of the invention. which a readily Padjusted Q- Figure 5 is a sectional: view showing the rotor a producthavmg the deslred charactensticsf construction of the fourth form of theinvention.

Still-another object of this invention is to pro- In order tofllustratethe invention, f ur. types, tide? mixing device having a mixing chamberof mixing chambers and two types of rotors have into which a rotorextends, thev rotor being .cornbeen shown, in drawings f which are P ofsegments ot-pl'ogressively increasing capable 'of carrying out theprincipal objects of Slze- 1 ii the invention. All of the-types ofmixing cham- A'turther OPJecb t 'f provlde bers disclosed may beinterchangeablyjmounted almlxing devlcerhavmg chamber into on the millsupportingstructure disclosed in which a rotor extends, the rotor beingprovided: Figures 1 dg; with means which serve to give the material aShown in Figure 1, the u r n Strucbeating before leaves th t 1' ture,generally designed by the numeral I, is

With these and otherobjects in view, t'his-ini e with a base 2- which iste by t t embraces hmadly tttteieonceptt of: the end plate 3 of anelectric motor and carries viding a mill having a mixing chamber and a oStructure rotor extending into the chamber, the mixing Thflnill u' is oprovided h a Chamber belttg P ovlded f means to e the inclined surface'5 positioned intermediate a'i'pair mammal whlih 15 f hemmed a SmallStream of side walls which combine with, the inclined upoh the Centerthe rotor Surlface surface 5 to: form a chute 6. The side walls three.tohhs ot the thvehttoh the t t converge at the foot of the inclinedsurface 5. to provided with means bywhich the material formajdiScha-drge Spout 1 1 g ghtehhgbttfte mth i to shpretimihary The-frontof the chute 6 isv partially closed by eating e-ore it passes e'ween emor and stator surfaces. In the fourth form of the infizg i g t t h g i gg gg g gz vention the material passes between one set of 40 threadedtuds m carried b the membe Th rotor and stator'surfaces before it issubjected to H d S f C p 5 1 d the beating and then passes between asecond the he tut 1S p 0V1 t e set of rotor and stator surfaces beforeit leaves ggg g t i or coohhg may the mill.

The means for feeding the material into the The shaft of thettecthcmotor is coupled mill is important because it enables the'stator atShaft t4 t h ttnves h t member surface to be covered with the incomingmaterial The Shaft M 15 Journahed as mdwated at without danger ofoverloading the mill, and the It and H m sleeve t P t P' beating of thematerial eliminates the necessity the Support Structure extendmg' mw'theof'thor h y mixing the materials before they chute 1 are introduced tothe mill and also eliminates The upper portion of the support I definesan the possibility of the ingredients separating dur aperture l9 aroundthe periphery of which acoling the mixing process. These jandother aqlar20-, held in" position by 'cap' screws 21",: is vantages will besubsequently-described in more mounted. Adjustingboltsg22,';carriedbybrackets complete detail.

23' which are mounted on supporting structure" I;

by means not shown to a suitable supply of cool ing or heating fluid andwhich surrounds'a central mixing chamber 29 of frusto-conical shapeformed by walls 30. The head 2'Iis provided with a flange 3| which restson the upper portion ofthe annulus 24 and is secured to the collar 20 bymeans of studs 32 provided with wing nuts 33.

The upper portion of the head 21 is provided with a centrally locatedaperture 34, the periphery of which is threaded to engage the exteriorlythreaded extension 35 of a hopper funnel 36. Theaperture 34 is ofanysuitable size but it is substantially smaller than the diameter ofthe rotor I5 and is positioned directly above the center of the rotor inorder to direct the material directly upon the center of the uppersurface of the rotor,

The clearance between the rotor |5and the walls 30 of the mixing chamber29 is regulatedby raising and lowering the head 21 by changing .theheight of the supporting annulus 24. After the proper adjustment hasbeen made, the wing nuts 33 are tightened to hold the head 21 in fixedposition.

The rotor l5 extends into the mixing chamber 29 and consists of twofrusto-conical shaped segments 3'! and 3B which are mounted insuperposed relation. The lower segment 37 is of large diameter than theupper segment 38. I s The construction of the rotor I5 is an importantfeature of the invention because it imparts anincreased flexibility tothe operation of the mill. In this connection it should be noted that,when the mixing chamber-29 is positioned in a manner shown in Figure 1,the upper segment 38 acts as a means to beat the emulsion entering thechamber from the funnel 36 before it passes between the working surfaceof the segment 31 and the walls 30. However, if it becomes advantageousbecause of the'pa'riti-cular material being 1 treated, the head 21 canbe lowered in the manner previously described, thereby lowering themixing chamber 29 and bringing the walls 30 into closer engagement withthe working surfaces of both v the segment 31 and the segment 38. Inthis position the segment 38 acts not only as a beater but as anadditional agent for emulsifying the materialr r Ordinarily, in actualpractice after the head 21 has been adjusted so as to provide the properclearance between the working surfaces of the rotor I5, the mixture ispoured into thefunnel 36 until a sufficient quantity has entered themixing chamber 29 to completely cover the surface of the rotor. Undersome conditions, if desired the entire mixing chamber 29 may be filledwith the rough mixture before the mill is started. However, usually onlysuflicient material is admitted to cover the upper surface of the rotorsegment 38. I

During operation the material entering the mixing chamber through therestricted aperture 34 comes in contact with the segment 38 and issubjected to a beating and mixing action by being thrown against thewalls 30 of the mixing chamber 29. After a thorough beating and mixing,the material passes between the working surfaces of the lower segment 31and the wall 29 and falls upon the inclined surface 5. After flowingdown the surface it is discharged through the aperture I.

, In connection with the operation of the mill,

it should be noted that the relatively smaller area of theaperture 34compared to the upper surface of the segment 38 of the rotor l5permitsonly a restricted quantity of the material to be fed to the milland directs all this material upon the rotor surface. 'Thefrusto-conical shape of both the rotor l5 and the mixing chamber 29 isalso admirably suited for this type of mill and the adjustable featureof the head 2'! allows the working surface of the mill to be increasedby lowering the frusto-conical shaped mixing chamber downwardly towardsthe rotor l5.

In Figure 3 is shown a head 40 which may readily-be substituted in themill just described in place of the head 21. The head 48 is similar inconstruction to the head 21 and is provided with the previouslydescribed fluid chamber 28, flange 3| and inlet aperture 34 in which maybe mountvided with a fluid chamber 28, flange 3| and inletz34. The rotor|5 is identical to that described in Figure 3, being composed of a lowersegment 31 and an upper segment 38, but the extremities of the wall ofthe hemispherically shaped mixing chamber 5| are provided with a workingsurface.52 which lies in the same plane as the plane of the workingsurface of the frusto-conical shaped segment 31.

' This type of head is desirable for use when the ingredients must bethoroughly blended and reduced to colloidal size. Due to theconstruction of the working surfaces, the mixture fed into the mill issubjected to an extensive beating by the segment 38 before it passesbetween the working surfaces.

; In the form of the invention shown in Figure 5, the head is providedwith the previously described fluid chamber 28, flange 3| and inlet 34.The mixing chamber 6|, however, is formed in .two sections, the uppersection 62 being frustoconical in shape and the lower section 63 beinghemispherical in shape. The rotor 64 is comprised of three segments 65,66 and 61 which are superposed and each of which is frustoconical inshape. These segments progressively decrease in diameter, the uppersegment 61 having the smallest area.

In the position of the head 60 shown in Figure '5, the segment 61 formsa working surface with the lower portion of the upper frusto-conicalchamber 62 and the lower segment forms a working surface with the lowerportion of the .hemispherically shaped mixing chamber 63. In thisposition of the rotor 64, the material enters .the upper mixing chamber62 and after passing through the working surface formed by the segment6! it is beaten and thoroughly mixed by the segment 66 by being thrownagainst the sides of the hemispherically shaped chamber 63. It thenpasses between the working surface formed by the segment 65 and theextremities of the wall of the lower chamber 63. The working surface ofthis mill can be decreased by slightly raising the head 60.

Therefore, the mill head 60, by being provided with a frusto-conicalmixing chamber 62 and a hemispherical mixing chamber 63, has theadvantages both of the mill head disclosed in Figure 2 and thosedisclosed in Figures 3 and 4. Moreover, the rotor in addition to beingprovided with two working surfaces is also provided with an intermediatebeating and mixing surface.

While for purposes of illustration the preferred structure whichconstitutes the invention has been shown and described, it is apparentthat various changes in the details of the construction can be made bythose skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of theinvention or exceeding the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A mixing and emulsifying mill comprising a mixing chamber havingwalls, the upper portion of said mixing chamber being frusto-conical inshape and the lower portion being hemispherical in shape, a rotorextending into said mixing chamber, said rotor progressively increasingin size from top to bottom and being composed of three frusto-conicalshaped segments having flat upper surfaces and sloping sides, the upperof said segments forming a working surface with the walls of thefrustoconically shaped portion of the mixing chamber and the slopingsurface of the lower segment forming a working surface with the walls ofthe hemispherically shaped portion of the mixing chamber, and saidintermediate segment being spaced from the walls of the hemisphericallyshaped portion of the mixing chamber to serve as a beater.

2. A mixing and emulsifying mill comprising a mixing chamber havingwalls, the upper portion of said mixing chamber being frusto-conical inshape and the lower portion being hemispherical in shape, a rotorextending into said mixing chamber, said rotor progressively increasingin size from top to bottom and being composed of three frusto-conicalshaped segments having fiat upper surfaces and sloping sides, the upperof said segments forming a working surface with the walls of thefrusto-conically shaped portion of the mixing chamber and the slopingsurface of the lower segment forming a working surface with the walls ofthe hemispherically shaped portion of the mixing chamber, and saidintermediate segment being spaced from the walls of the hemisphericallyshaped portion of the mixing chamber to serve as a beater, and the upperportion of said mixing chamber defining an opening of restricted areapositioned above the center portion of the said rotor.

3. A mixing and emulsifying mill comprising a mixing chamber havingwalls, the upper portion of said mixing chamber being frusto-conical inshape and the lower portion being hemispherical in shape, a rotorextending into said mixing chamber, said rotor progressively increasingin size from top to bottom and being composed of three frusto-conicalshaped segments having flat upper surfaces and sloping sides, thesloping surface of the upper of said segments forming a working surfacewith the walls of the frustoconically shaped portion of the mixingchamber and the sloping surface of the lower segment forming a workingsurface with the Walls of the hemispherically shaped portion of themixing chamber, and said intermediate segment being spaced from the saidhemispherical shaped portion of the mixing chamber to serve as a beater,the upper portion of said mixing chamber defining an opening ofrestricted area positioned above the center portion of the said rotor,and the said mixing chamber being adjustable vertically so that thedistance of the upper surface of the rotor from the said opening may beregulated.

4. A mixing and emulsifying mill comprising a mixing chamber havingwalls, the upper portion of said mixing chamber being frusto-conical inshape and the lower portion being hemispherical in shape, a rotorextending into said mixing chamber, said rotor progressively increasingin size from top to bottom and being composed of at least threefrusto-conical shaped segments having flat upper surfaces and slopingsides, the sloping surface of the upper of said segments forming aworking surface with the walls of the frusto-conically shaped portion ofthe mixing chamber and the sloping surface of the lower segment forminga working surface with the walls of the hemispherically shaped portionof the mixing chamber, and said intermediate segments being spaced fromthe said hemispherical shaped portion of the mixing chamber to serve asa beater, the upper portion of said mixing chamber defining an openingof restricted area positioned above the center portion of the saidrotor, and the said mixing chamber being adjustable vertically so thatthe distance of the upper surface of the rotor from the said opening maybe regulated.

WILLIAM A. McLEAN.

